


Wedding Crashers

by patroklassy



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Modern Era, a shitload of knitting, wedding crashers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-21
Updated: 2016-07-21
Packaged: 2018-07-25 19:54:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7545841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/patroklassy/pseuds/patroklassy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Levi crashes weddings and knits prolifically.<br/>Erwin hates weddings and likes to try new things.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wedding Crashers

He had really hoped he wouldn’t be invited.

When he received the invite, he really hoped he would be busy that day.

When his schedule was free, he sent an apologetic but entirely untruthful note to Marie and Nile telling them that, unfortunately, he wouldn’t be able to make it.

\--

“Marie, what can I do for you?” he asked, silently berating himself for answering his phone. At least he was good at sounding interested when he needed to.

“Nile and I received your note a couple days ago, and we were both very sorry to hear you wouldn’t be able to make it. We just wanted to see— I just wanted to check—” A sigh sounded through the phone. “Erwin, we didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable or anything. We really do want you to be there. I—I just wanted to check that you aren’t saying no because it’s _us._ You were a good friend to Nile and you mean a lot to me and just—won’t you please come?”

Erwin closed his eyes and tensed his jaw a couple times. When he replied to Marie, his voice was free of anything but good intentions. He was good at that. He was also good at lying. “I’d been meaning to call you, actually. I was supposed be giving a presentation that evening, but there seems to have been some sort of mix-up with the auditorium booking. They’ve postponed it a week. So if you’ve got the room, I’ll be there.”

“Oh, fantastic! I’ll add you to the guest-list right now. This really means a lot, Erwin. See you at the wedding!”  

\--

“Levi, do we really have to do this every time?”

“Shut up and keep knitting.”

Levi was knitting a hat. Farlan and Isabel were knitting matching scarves.

“They probably don’t even use them.” Farlan held up a tidily knitted and near-complete scarf, striped in red and gold.

“I don’t care,” Levi said. “It’s the courteous thing to do.”

“I’m not sure anything about this situation is courteous.”

\--

“Mingle,” Hanji instructed.

“Why?” Erwin asked. “I’m never going to see these people again.”

“ _Mingle._ ”

Erwin found himself being shoved towards the group of people hanging round the bar, waiting for the line to shorten enough to join it. Stepping aside in time to avoid hitting the closest one, Erwin went around the group and wandered outside. It was drizzling a little, but there was a canopy to protect the outdoor seating. This was where the ceremony had taken place. 

Erwin sat down at one of the seats.

So Marie and Nile were married. It seemed a lifetime ago that the three of them had been going to bars together, studying on campus together, flatting together.

He was happy for them. He wasn’t in love with Marie anymore. He just hadn’t really expected to find himself at her wedding someday.

\--

“Is this mingling, Erwin?”

Erwin sighed, caught out at last. At least he’d earned himself fifteen minutes of peace.

\--

“What did you put on the card?” Levi asked.

“I put, ‘With love from your very thankful friends.’”

“Ugh, that’s shit. But it’ll do. Alright, go do your thing. I’ve had my fill. I’m gonna go sit down for a bit.”

\--

The line at the bar shortened. Every couple of minutes Erwin stepped a foot closer. When at last it was his turn to order, he asked for a Dark n’ Stormy.

The seating plan had naturally fallen into disarray as soon as the speeches and dinner were over. When Erwin looked around, the most immediate tables were swarmed with at least half a dozen more people than they could each comfortably hold. Zoning in on the closest outlier—a six-seater table with only one person currently seated—Erwin made for it.  

He sat himself down on the opposite side from the stranger—a dark-haired man about his age—and prepared to daydream in what he thought was a comfortable silence.

“You look like shit,” the stranger said.

Erwin, who was already in the process of drowning out the throbbing music and laughter, glanced at him. “Excuse me?”

“I said you look like shit. Tired.”

“Oh. I am tired.”

“Friends with the bride or groom?”

“I’m the groom’s ex-best friend. And the bride’s ex-boyfriend.”

The stranger leaned on an elbow, idly stirring his drink with a straw. “That’s rough. No wonder you look like shit. Why come?”

Good question. Why had he come? “Good excuse to see the wine country,” Erwin said.

“Says the man who ordered rum.”  

“Maybe I’m mercurial. Maybe it’s a vice. And you? Bride or groom?”

“Groom.”

Erwin searched the room until he caught sight of Marie and Nile. They were dancing together. And there was Hanji, trying to drag Mike onto the dancefloor. His eyes went back to Marie and Nile. It occurred to him that he was happy for them. He never could have made Marie that happy. “How do you know Nile?” he asked his new acquaintance.  

The stranger had looked bored throughout this exchange. Upon hearing Nile’s name, his eyelids lifted and dropped again in the barest expression of surprise. “I live a few places up from him. We talk. He borrows my lawnmower sometimes.”

Erwin gave him a sidelong glance. “Is that so?”

Before he could say any more, a sparky girl in her early twenties interrupted them. “Levi? We’re ready to go.”

She was accompanied by a young man a few years older. He crossed his arms over his chest, a peeved look on his face. “Isabel’s picked up three dates for herself,” he said. “If I see one more frat boy I’m gonna scream. Let’s get out of here.”

Levi sighed and began to rise from his seat. “Alright, alright, I’m coming. Meet me at the car. I’m going to the bathroom.” He glanced at Erwin. “Frat boys,” he muttered. “They’re like locusts. Watch my drink for me.”

Levi left his jacket hooked over the back of his chair, and went away to the bathroom.

\--

He had broken one of the most important of his many rules: Don’t get interested.

When he got home, Levi hung his jacket up on the coat rack.

The next morning, he took his jacket down and put it on to walk to the dairy. Farlan had drunk all the milk again.

It was cold; he dug his hands into his pockets. One of them touched a slip of paper. Pulling it out, he read a cell-phone number followed by a little drawing of a drink with a straw in it.

“Shit,” he said.

He was interested.

\--

“Hello?”

“Hey. It’s me. Levi. From the wedding.”

Erwin smiled. “Hi, Levi. I see you checked your pockets.”

“What the hell’s your name?”

“Erwin Smith.”

“Shit.”

Erwin sat down on his couch. The sun poured in through the window, warming him. “What’s wrong?”

“Why am I calling you?”

“You tell me. You’re the one that called.”

“Shit,” Levi said again.

“You don’t seem overly pleased with the way this conversation is going,” Erwin remarked.

“What do you want?”

Sensing things weren’t going to develop too quickly at this rate, Erwin went straight to the point. “I want to take you out to a movie.”

“What are you, seventeen?”

“They do make films for adults, you know.”

There was a lengthy pause at the other end of the line, during which Erwin heard two people arguing in the background. Their voices cut off abruptly when Levi said, voice muffled, “Be _quiet._ ” Then he said to Erwin: “Fine. You’ll have my number now. Text me the details.”

\--

Levi hung up the phone. Farlan and Isabel were still looking at him.

“ _What?_ ”

“The blond guy from the wedding?” Farlan asked. “Really? Am I the _only_ one who didn’t get a date last night?”

“Shut up,” Levi said.

“You can have one of my dates if you like, Farlan,” Isabel said. “I can afford to spare one or two. And I know you need the help.”

“For the last time, I am perfectly capable of—”

It was promising to be an almost exact copy of the argument they’d had while he was on the phone, so Levi went to leave the room. Besides, when he recalled the conversation with Erwin, his cheeks got warm—he needed to get out of there before Farlan and Isabel noticed.

“Don’t forget Saturday!” he called over his shoulder to them as he passed through the door. “Get knitting!”

\--

Erwin really wasn’t a fan of weddings. They seemed wasteful. He could celebrate his love with someone just fine without dolling out his life’s savings on it.

So he wasn’t thrilled that two more of his friends were _also_ getting married within a week of Marie and Nile.

He had gone to the movies with Levi. They had had a good time together. They had shared popcorn. Levi had looped his arm with Erwin’s when Erwin walked him home. He had made frankly horrific jokes that made Erwin laugh. They had made plans to meet up Sunday night because they were both busy Saturday.

Erwin was busy Saturday because he had to go to another damn wedding.

“Mingle,” Hanji instructed him again, because she was far too pleased with how that had worked out last time. She had screamed through the phone when Erwin told her about his date.

“Why this time? I’ve already got another date with Levi tomorrow night. And I have plenty of friends.”

“You have two close friends, Erwin.”

“Plenty.”

Hanji sighed. “Then _dance_ at least.”

Erwin laughed. “Oh-ho no. Nobody wants to see that. I’m fine, Hanji. Go talk Mike into getting smashed. That’s always fun.”

“Fine,” Hanji said, rising from her seat. “But _only—_ ” She gave Erwin a stern look “—because drunk-Mike is a blessing upon this godforsaken Earth.”

Erwin laughed again. “God-speed, Hanji.”

\--

“Shit.”

“Is that your new motto?” Farlan asked.

“No— _shit._ Is that Erwin? That’s Erwin. It is, isn’t it? Shit.”

“Oh,” Farlan said. “You’re right, that is Erwin. Should I call him over?”

“ _No._ My last lie was shitty enough. Come on—where’s Isabel?—we’re leaving.”

\--

“Levi?”

Erwin had just spotted him—or someone he was pretty sure was him—making for the hall’s exit.

Yes—that red-headed girl he was with was unmistakable.

“Levi!” Erwin called again.

Levi paused, seemed to be gathering himself, and then turned. He was about twenty feet away. He waited for Erwin to catch up to him before saying, “Hey, Erwin.”

“What are you doing here?” Erwin asked.

“Celebrating love,” Levi replied. “And bonds. And—loyalty, probably.”

Erwin leant a shoulder against the wall. “So who are you here for this time? Louisa or Catherine?”

“Louisa.” Levi looked down, straightening the cuff of his jacket. “She’s a close friend of Isabel’s.”  

Erwin waited until Levi looked up again before replying—he wanted to make sure Levi would see the amused expression on his face. “If you’re going to crash wedding receptions,” he said, “you should probably pay a little more attention to whose wedding it is. And think up some better lies.” He pointed to the far side of the room, where the newly married couple were posing for photographs: two men smiling as they leaned in to kiss each other.

“Shit,” Levi said. His gaze came back to Erwin, accusing. “You knew last time?”

“Nile and Marie live in the fourth floor of an apartment building; I really don’t think they have a dire need for a lawnmower. Their names are Bram and Arthur by the way,” Erwin added, tossing his head in the direction of the newlyweds.

“Alright. Well, we had best be on our way—”

“You’re leaving?” Erwin hadn’t meant to sound so disappointed, but there it was.

Levi hesitated. “Yeah. You caught us. Time to flee the scene.”

“What if I promise not to tell anybody?”  

Levi rolled his eyes. Erwin thought it was a touch more dramatic than necessary, but he liked that. “Fine. But we’re making a beeline for the bar.”

\--

“We’re not gonna bang.” Levi hung his jacket on the coat rack.

Erwin handed him his coat to hang up too. “I wasn’t expecting us to,” he said.

Sunday night. Another date had gone well. They had gone for a walk along the beach together and sat on the rocks at sunset. Erwin had found a pretty pāua shell, which Levi had decided to keep. Now they were back at Levi’s, intending to drink some wine together.

Erwin looked around. _Levi’s_ was really _Levi, Farlan and Isabel’s_. But Isabel was off on a date of her own and Farlan was just . . . out. According to Levi, he rarely got more specific than that. 

Levi led Erwin from the hallway to the lounge. A couch was pushed against the right-hand wall, sheets, a blanket and a pillow neatly folded and piled at the foot of it.

“A friend’s been staying?” Erwin asked.

Levi shook his head. “That’s my bed.”

Erwin wasn’t surprised. It made sense. After all, he had met Levi at a wedding reception he had attended uninvited with the sole purpose of abusing the newlyweds’ offering of free food and drink. Erwin hadn’t come here expecting any kind of wealth. He said, “Two-bedroom place?”

“Yeah. I gave up my room to Isabel when she moved in. Kid deserved it.”

The left-hand wall was lined with a log-burner and seven plastic crates, each crate holding cones and balls of wool sorted by colour. That made less sense to Erwin. “Weaving?” he asked, curious. “Knitting?”

“The latter.” Levi indicated for Erwin to take a seat at the couch, and disappeared into the kitchen. There was some clinking. He reappeared a few moments later with two wine glasses and a bottle of wine. “For the married couple. The knitting, I mean. It’s cheap shit by the way,” he said, holding up the wine.  “I’m sure you can guess why.”

Erwin smiled as Levi sat down next to him. “That’s fine. Explain this knitting to me.”

Levi poured their glasses and did so: “I get the wool from a guy I helped out. End-of-the-line stuff, he gives it all to me for free. Cupboards here are usually pretty bare, so we go to the wedding receptions to fill ourselves out a bit. But it would be discourteous to show up uninvited _and_ empty-handed, so we make a point of not showing up empty-handed.”

Erwin sipped the wine Levi had passed to him. Levi’s description of it had been accurate, he discovered, but he didn’t mind. “So you knit for them?”

Levi angled himself a little so his back and head were leaning on Erwin’s shoulder. Erwin shifted to accommodate him, letting Levi lean more against his chest by putting his right arm around him. It felt nice.

“We sit together and knit some things and then we give it to the newlyweds as gifts. Usually just scarves and hats. Sometimes gloves or a sweater.” Levi moved his head suddenly, tipping it back to look up at Erwin. “Can you knit?” he asked.

Erwin shook his head. He realised he was smiling, possibly too much. But Levi looked very sweet looking up at him like that. And asking him about knitting. “No. But I’m almost certain you’re about to teach me.”

Levi was on his feet again in an instant. “I’ll get some needles. We’ll start you off on something chunky. It’s faster—maybe you could have a new scarf by the time you go home.”

Erwin watched, impossibly endeared, as Levi dove into one of the plastic crates.

“Come here,” Levi said, pausing a moment to wave Erwin over. He spread his hand towards all the other crates. “Pick some colours. Try get ones of the same ply.”

A lot of the balls weren’t labelled so Erwin guessed, picking out a deep blue and a nice silver that looked to be about the same thickness. “Are these okay?” he asked Levi.

Levi looked over. “Hmm. Much chunkier than that. I’m gonna give you 20mm knitting needles.” He held the needles up. They were thicker than the widest part of Erwin’s thumb.

“People knit with these?” He eyed the needles dubiously as he took them from Levi. “They look more like weapons.” He hit them together like swords to demonstrate.

“You break my needles, I break your fingers. Those are the rules we live by here,” Levi said, diving into the same crates Erwin had been digging through. He pulled out two chunky balls of wool, one blue, one silver, the colours slightly different to those Erwin had chosen. “These shades okay?”

Erwin nodded.

“Okay. I’m not going to lie to you, Erwin. Knitting with giant needles is only slightly less shit than knitting with tiny ones. But you look like a chunky-knit kind of man to me.”

Erwin frowned, unsure of whether that was a compliment or an insult, or neither. “I do?”

\--

“Levi, what’s this massive hole here?”

Levi leaned over to look at Erwin’s work. “Oh. You must have dropped a stitch.”

Erwin was only four rows in. Damn it. “Will I have to undo it?” He really didn’t want to have to undo it. It had taken him long enough to knit that last row in the first place. And it was only six stitches long.

“You can leave it if you want. It won’t unravel or anything like that, you’ll just have a gaping hole.” Levi shrugged. “Maybe if you do it enough, it’ll look decorative.”

Erwin nodded, biting his lip in concentration as he took up his needles again.

\--

“Oh, God.”

Erwin glanced up from his knitting. His scarf was two-feet long now.

Farlan stood in the doorway, leaning on the frame.

“Hey, Farlan,” Levi greeted him. Levi was working on his own project: a large blanket.

“Keep this guy around,” Farlan said, nodding at Erwin. “He can take my place as your knitting slave. If I have to make one more scarf, I might strangle myself with it.”

“Erwin’s a fast learner. Faster than you were.”

Something in Erwin’s chest warmed at Levi’s semi-compliment.

“I didn’t have the prospect of more dates to motivate me,” Farlan replied, moving back into the hall. Going to his bedroom, Erwin guessed.

“Ignore him,” Levi said to Erwin after he was gone. “He thinks people wealthy enough to have weddings deserve to have their food eaten for free. Most of them probably do. But this is all we can offer, so we’ll offer it. We knit clothes for the orphanage too, you know. Farlan won’t admit it, but that actually means a lot to him.”

God, there was that warmth again. Except now it was pride for Levi _._ “Is that what the blanket’s for?” Erwin asked.

The blanket was bundled up in Levi’s lap, weighing down the cord connecting the circular needles he was using to knit it. “No, this is for—well, I haven’t really decided yet who this is for. I’m just knitting it. I guess I’ll decide what to do with it when it’s done.”

\--

Levi sat on the couch beside Erwin with one leg tucked under himself, the other folded up to his chest. He leaned over, weaving his hands between Erwin’s to show him which stitch to carry over. “Like this, see?” He took the second stitch on the right-hand needle and carried it over the first.

“And that’s casting off?” Erwin said.

“That’s casting off.”

Levi watched as Erwin tried it again for himself. Knit one stitch. Pick up the second stitch on the right needle. Carry it over the first. It was painstakingly slow to watch somebody else do it.

He leant his head on Erwin’s shoulder as he observed. He liked Erwin’s hands. They were clumsy with the knitting needles, but they were nice looking and Levi was certain Erwin was going to improve quickly. He would give him smaller needles next time. 

Erwin cast-off a couple more stitches before checking: “Am I doing it right?”

“Keep going.”

He got to the end and Levi instructed him on how to pull the yarn through the last stitch, tying it off.

When it was finished, Levi took the scarf from Erwin’s hands and wrapped it around his neck for him, taking a moment to fiddle with the ends, positioning them. Since it was chunky-knit, it was stiff and bulky.

“Well?” Erwin asked. He was smiling; it made Levi smile back, seeing how ridiculously proud of himself Erwin was. And over such a small thing. “How does it look?”

“Like a first-time-knitter made it. But at least it’ll soften up with time. And it suits you, Erwin. It looks good on you.”

They looked at each other for a moment. Hell, Erwin really did look good in it, even if the scarf was wonky and lumpy and didn’t really sit nicely. It was endearing.

Levi had to do it. He couldn’t not do it. There was just something irresistibly cosy about Erwin right now.

Levi leaned forward and kissed him.

It surprised him when one of Erwin’s hands came up to his cheek, the other to the back of his head. Erwin was clearly strong; part of Levi had expected aggression, force. But the way Erwin kissed back was the gentlest thing in the world.

\--

The wind was blisteringly cold. Erwin put his arm around Levi and said for the second time, “You really don’t have to walk me out. Stay inside where it’s warm.”

“It’s good manners,” Levi argued. For the second time.

He was shivering under Erwin’s arm. Neither of them had expected the drop in temperature; Levi had left his jacket on the rack inside.

They reached Erwin’s car, parked up against the curb.

“Well,” Erwin said, “I certainly learnt something new today.” His new scarf was still wrapped around his neck.

Levi fiddled with the ends of it again, looping them together so the wind wouldn’t blow it off. “Did you enjoy it?” he asked. “Be honest.”

Erwin leaned down and kissed him again. “I really did. And knitting was pretty fun, too.”

Levi let out a little laugh. “Good. Good.”

He didn’t manage to say anything beyond that, and Erwin realised it was his because his teeth were beginning to chatter. “Here,” he said quickly, and reached up to undo the loose knot in his scarf Levi had tied. He removed the scarf and wrapped it twice around Levi’s neck, pulling it up so it covered the lower part of his face. Then he stepped back to admire his work. He smiled. “You’re right. Ugly scarf. But you make it work.”

“Ithsowarmuh.”

“Pardon?”

Levi tugged the scarf down just enough to free his mouth. “It’s so warm.”

“Good. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Get home safe. See you tomorrow, Erwin.”

\--

“ _Marry him_ ,” Hanji said through the phone.

“You know I’m against that.”

“Change your beliefs and then _marry him._ Mike? Mike! Get your butt over here. Tell Erwin he needs to marry Levi ASAP. Lock that man down.”

“Lock that man down,” Mike said into the phone. He quietly added, “Who’s Levi?”

“Oh, you’re no use. Go away now. Erwin? Seriously. This Levi guy sounds really good for you. When do we get to meet him?”

Oh, God. The prospect of introducing Levi to his friends felt like the equivalent of hitting the EJECT button and watching Levi shoot at a very brisk speed out of his life, hollering all the way.

“Well?” Hanji pressed.

Erwin sighed. “Friday night? I’ll find out if he’s free.”

“Of _course_ he’ll be free! Just tell him he’s going to be meeting a first-rate scientist.”

“Yes. I’m sure that will have him buzzing in anticipation.”

“Am I detecting sarcasm? That’s new. Did you learn that from Levi? Is he teaching you bad habits? I’m not sure I like what he’s turning you into, Erwin—”

Erwin hung up. Hanji would understand.

\--

Erwin went outside to meet Levi at the gate. “You know, ‘good manners’ doesn’t have to extend to ‘wearing Erwin’s ugly scarf so I don’t offend him’,” he said when he saw him.

He said this because Levi had Erwin’s ugly scarf firmly tied around his neck.

“I like it,” Levi said, taking Erwin’s hand as he passed through the gate. “It’s grown on me.”

“Really?”

“Do I seem the sort to feed you feel-good bullshit?”

Erwin laughed. “No, you really don’t. Alright, so the scarf has grown on you. With any luck, my friends will too. I’ve already warned you about Hanji, right?”

“Via both text and phone-call, yes.”

“Okay. Here we go, then.”

\--

Levi punched Mike in the nose. Lightly. Semi-lightly.

And he killed Hanji’s pet slug. In his defence, he hadn’t known it was a pet. And he also hadn’t known it would die when he wrapped it in a tissue and drop-kicked it out the door.

Mike sat in the armchair with a tampon stuck up his left nostril. Hanji was outside burying Rosco.

Erwin and Levi sat next to each other on the couch.

“You’ve got your work cut out for you with this one,” Mike said to Erwin, waving a hand at Levi. It was said without malice. There was even a hint of appreciation in his voice. “But you’ve really flushed yourself down the shitter by killing Rosco,” he added, addressing Levi now. 

“I’ll get her a new damn slug.”

“She raised Rosco from birth.”

“Do slugs even have births? I’m pretty sure they just manifest in dirt. Or multiply through mitosis.”

“Did somebody say ‘mitosis’?” Hanji’s head appeared in the doorway. “Levi, this is _perfect._ Oh, I’m going to tell you all about my research. Hold on, I’ll just fetch my notes.” Hanji vanished, and when she appeared it again it was from the hallway, a massive ring-binder clutched in her hands.

Mike nodded wisely. It made the string of the tampon in his nose wiggle. “Hanji has made it through her mourning period.”

Shoving Erwin aside to plonk herself down next to Levi, Hanji spread open the ring-binder. “First, let’s discuss mitosis. We’ll start with interphase.” She paused, laughing to herself. “What better place could there be to start? So, the growth of cytoplasmic organelles . . .”

Levi reached past her to grip Erwin’s shoulder. _Save me_ , he mouthed.

Erwin shrugged in a way that said, _You killed her slug. There’s nothing I can do. See you on the other side._

\--

It was late. Very late. Erwin had fallen asleep. He woke up to find himself on the floor, leaning against the armchair. Somebody above him was mumbling. It was Mike. He was sleep-talking about cologne.

Hanji and Levi were still on the couch. Hanji was still talking, and Erwin wondered if she had paused at all since she had first opened her ring-binder. He checked the time: 3.24 a.m. She had started talking five hours ago.

Levi was leaning on a hand. It was impossible to tell if he was asleep or not—maybe he was one of those people that could sleep with their eyes open? But then he shifted his chin to the other hand. So he was awake. And judging by his expression, very, very bored.

“I have work in the morning,” Erwin said.

Hanji didn’t hear him. Or ignored him.

“Hanji? _Hanji._ I have work in the morning,” he repeated.

Hanji turned to him, blinked. “What?”

“Work. In the morning. Four hours from now.”

Hanji’s gaze travelled to the clock on the wall. “My my _my!_ Is it really that late? Levi, I’m so sorry. I may have to stop you there. And to think, we haven’t even gotten to metaphase yet . . .”

Levi, freed, clambered off the couch and slowly lowered himself to Erwin’s side. He clutched at Erwin’s arm. “Take me home,” he said quietly. “Please.”

\--

Levi lay down on his couch-bed. He felt bad that Erwin would have to let himself out, but Erwin had a shitty friend called Hanji that talked for five hours straight, so really, he deserved to have to let himself out.

He was still wearing the scarf. He knew he should probably take if off. Choking to death while he was asleep wasn’t exactly ideal, after all. But he would keep it on a little longer. At least until Erwin had said goodnight to him.

Erwin was currently pinned to the couch by the upper half of Levi’s body. Levi had his head in his lap.

“That was very patient of you,” Erwin said.

“I survived by imagining all the different ways I could kill her,” Levi replied. “I didn’t take in a word she said.”

“At least she’s forgiven you for the slug.”

“Damn slug. Why was Mike sniffing me?”

“He does that. He likes nice smells. You smell nice.”

“I do? Good.”

Levi took the scarf off. He folded it and tucked it under his head.

\--

He couldn’t remember who had fallen asleep first.

But when Levi woke in the morning, his head was still in Erwin’s lap, and Erwin was gently snoring above him.

He closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

\--

“Levi, are you coming or not?”

Levi stood in the doorway. Farlan and Isabel were off to another wedding reception. Levi had knitted both the hats and scarves they held gift-wrapped in their hands.

He was supposed to be meeting Erwin soon. Erwin could afford food; he bought Levi food when they were on dates. Levi didn’t feel the need to fill up at receptions anymore.

But of course Erwin’s dates didn’t extend to Farlan and Isabel.

He felt torn.

“It’s okay,” Isabel said, as if she had sensed Levi’s turmoil. She was smiling. “We don’t need you to come babysit us. But we’ll hang out later, yeah?”

A weight dropped off Levi’s shoulders. “Yeah,” he said. “I’ll see you guys later.”

\--

“This one’s much better,” Erwin said, wrapping his latest scarf around Levi’s neck. “For a start, I didn’t drop any stitches. And I knitted and purled in all the right places. Mostly. You can stop wearing that awful first one now.”

“But I love your first one. It’s shitty.”

\--

Fire roared in the log-burner.

Levi sat on the couch, knitting more of his blanket. It had grown a great deal; Isabel, who was lying on the couch with her feet tucked under Levi, was already putting it to use, with the finished end pulled up to her chin.

Erwin sat on the floor between Levi’s legs, leaning back against the seat of the couch. Levi’s blanket was made up of over a dozen colours, so Erwin was untangling all the balls of wool for him. Every now and again the ends of one of Levi’s needles would tap against his head.

Farlan lay on his stomach on the floor nearby, flicking through a magazine.

Winter had passed but it was a chilly spring. The lounge, with its cosy log-burner, had transformed through winter from Levi’s bedroom to a communal sitting area again, and had yet to transform back.

“It’s nearly done,” Levi said, holding up his needles. His blanket hung off them, weighty, enormous.

“How can you tell?” Isabel asked. “Are you measuring it?”

“No. I just think it’s almost long enough now.”

“For what?”

Levi went back to his knitting without answering.

\--

“I’m serious,” Erwin said, tugging at the ends of the ugly scarf Levi was wearing. They were going out to meet Hanji and Mike for dinner. “You don’t have to wear this thing anymore. Especially not in public.”

“You leave my shitty scarf alone,” Levi replied, pulling the scar higher up around his chin. “I told you already, I love it. Stop questioning it.”

\--

It was 14th October. Erwin didn’t really fancy counting the candles on his birthday cake. He would rather not think about it.

“You know I don’t have the money to buy you something,” Levi said, “so I made you something instead.”

He picked up a massive parcel and put it down on the table in front of Erwin. It had a pretty bow on it.

Tearing the wrapping paper open, Erwin revealed something he already knew he loved dearly: it was Levi’s blanket, the one he had been knitting since Erwin had first met him. It had featured in many of their dates already, steadily lengthening as they knitted together, or bunched up at the edge of the couch when they were napping or reading or kissing.

Erwin had never seen it finished. He lifted it by one end, watching it lengthen more and more as it unfolded. When he pulled it free of the table and wrapped it around his shoulders, another three feet of it brushed against the floor.

“I made it specially for your size,” Levi explained. “I didn’t want your feet to get cold because it was too short. I know you hate that.”

Erwin did hate that. It was a problem that had plagued him ever since he was a teenager.

The blanket was perfect. It was long, it was warm, its colour scheme was beautiful in places and ugly in others. He loved it. He loved Levi.

He loved Levi.

\--

“Let me wash it, Erwin.”

“No.”

“It’s filthy.”

“It’s _fine._ ”

“You’ve been using it for a month straight!”

Erwin toddled away from Levi, his favourite blanket—the blanket he still called _Levi’s Blanket_ in his head—wrapped around him. He was wearing nothing but boxer shorts underneath. It wasn’t really cold enough to warrant the use of a blanket mid-morning anymore, but Erwin loved it too much.

Or maybe loved Levi too much.

“It’s _fine_ ,” Erwin said again, because Levi had jumped over the couch to reach him faster, and now had his arms wrapped around Erwin’s shoulders and chest, hanging off his back. 

“It smells terrible,” Levi said.

“It smells—” Erwin lurched for the couch and toppled over the back of it, taking Levi with him; they both landed in a heap half on its cushions, half on the floor “—fine.”

\--

“Shit,” Levi said, sitting up. His hair was in disarray from his tumble over the couch.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

_I love you, you asshole._

\--

“Erwin?”

“Mm?”

“You remember what I first said to you when we met?”

Erwin smiled, though he didn’t open his eyes. He was lying on Levi’s couch, Levi’s Blanket and Levi himself spread over him. “Yes. Back when you were a wedding crasher. You said I looked like shit.”

“Oh, right. Remember the second thing I said?”

“Mm.”

Levi leaned his head down to kiss Erwin’s eyelids until his eyes fluttered open, blue and happy. Levi said, “You don’t look so tired anymore, Erwin.”

**Author's Note:**

> Shout out to hephaistionisawesome.tumblr.com for all the ideas on Levi's knitting habits and creations! :)
> 
> Also I went with NZ seasons because I am lazy.


End file.
